


i feel a little rush

by spilborghs (carebearstare)



Category: Baseball RPF
Genre: Age Difference, Alternate Universe - College/University, Colorado Rockies, M/M, Pining, Toronto Blue Jays
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-25
Updated: 2018-06-25
Packaged: 2019-05-28 06:05:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,567
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15042386
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/carebearstare/pseuds/spilborghs
Summary: Nolan’s a good student, always on time, never skips class. He almost always pays attention and soaks up the content, especially in his Introduction to Kinesiology class. Almost always, because right now, he’s having an incredibly difficult time paying attention.





	i feel a little rush

**Author's Note:**

> This is the beginning to a domestic AU that no one asked for. There's a lot of backstory and many, many thanks to tulowhiskey for talking it through with me allllll the time :*
> 
> Just for notes: Nolan's 20 and Troy's 27 here, so if that bothers you feel free to click the back button, I won't be upset. 
> 
> If you got here through Google, please hit the back button.

Nolan’s a good student, always on time, never skips class. He almost always pays attention and soaks up the content, especially in his Introduction to Kinesiology class. Almost always, because right now, he’s having an incredibly difficult time paying attention. 

It’s the last Friday of the month, which means it’s another Career Day. The program likes to highlight all of the different career paths Kinesiology and other College of Health Solutions majors can take, and this time, they brought in an alum of the College to speak about being a Physical Education teacher. Or at least, that’s what Nolan thinks he does, he might be a coach too. Or instead of. Or… something? He should really pay attention, even if he wants to be a physical therapist. So, he tries to focus.

He manages that for a good minute or two before his mind wanders again, this time getting lost in his eyes. He can’t quite tell what color they are from five rows back, but they must be something gorgeous. Nolan doesn’t even realize he’s staring at him until the man looks right back at him, something flashing in his eyes as they meet. Can’t help but turn a light shade of pink at being caught, even if it was absentminded, and he’s grateful it doesn’t get worse than that. He bites a nail and looks away, trying to calm down even a little bit. He doesn’t know why he’s so worked up, it’s not like he even has a chance with this guy, who’s got short, blond hair, a strong jaw, those stupidly pretty eyes, strong thighs and ridiculously long legs…

Of course, because the universe hates Nolan oh so much today, even though all he wants to do is be normal and enjoy the eye candy this Career Day has brought him, he gets caught staring at the guy  _ again. _ At least this time the guy - and god, he’s usually decent with names but of course he can’t remember his - looks somewhat amused with him and not totally off-put by the freshman with an obvious crush. He needs to get himself together. Nolan tries to give the guy a small smile, but it probably comes out as a grimace. He sighs, putting his head in his hands.

It takes another five minutes, but he does eventually manage to listen to the guy - Troy, apparently, as his professor called him that during a change in topics. Turns out Troy’s incredibly knowledgeable in addition to being incredibly pretty, providing a lot of background Nolan didn’t even realize was needed to be a PE teacher. He’s also got a dry sense of humor, coming out after another student asked him how he manages being around high school students all day long.

By the time the class is ending, Nolan realizes he really, really doesn’t want to miss out on knowing him. Usually, when he gets a crush on a stranger, he’s able to let it go or think about them in a fleeting fantasy. But Troy? He can’t stop this nagging feeling that he’s going to be missing out on something important. And a part of him feels so stupid for it, because he doesn’t even know Nolan’s name, and he’s a teacher while Nolan’s a 20-year-old freshman who barely goes out and is a massive dork. And he’s only seen him for 50 minutes and both times - maybe more, probably more - he was staring at him like a creep. He doesn’t even know if he’s into guys. But when the bell rings, and Troy’s packing up his things to leave, probably to go home and joke to his stupidly perfect significant other about how this dumb kid was ogling him the whole time, Nolan can’t help but scramble out of his chair to go talk to him. He kind of, sort of trips as he heads down the stairs of the lecture hall, but he really,  _ really  _ hopes he didn’t notice. 

Troy’s about to sling his backpack over his shoulder and head out the door when Nolan gets to him, calling out for him. “Hi! Mr. Troy… ummm…”  _ Fuck, he forgot his last name.  _ Really fucking smooth, Nolan.

For what it’s worth, Troy doesn’t look annoyed or upset or anything. He just looks amused again, which probably isn’t the best for Nolan either, but he’ll take that over being scolded at. “It’s Tulowitzki, but you can just call me Troy.”

Nolan bites his lip and nods quickly, probably too quickly, and nervously puts a hand behind his neck. “Troy, right. Got it. Um, so you’re a teacher?”

If he wasn’t amused before, he definitely is now, and he looks like he’s trying not to laugh. “Yes, I am.” He shrugs, like it’s not really a big deal. “Technically. High school PE teacher. But I’m also a coach on the baseball team.” 

The way Nolan’s looking at him, he may as well be a neurosurgeon. Which is to say, he’s wide-eyed and crushing even more now. “Oh - wow, that’s. That’s really cool.” Inwardly cringes at how he sounds like a complete dork, but he’ll gladly take that over excited and tripping over his words like he’s been known to do.

He must feel bad for him, because Troy gives him a small smile. “Yeah, I love it. It’s pretty rewarding to coach young kids and watch them grow from what you’ve taught them.”

Nolan melts at his smile, and the way he talks about his career, and just… everything about him. Forgets to speak for a moment, then blushes slightly again and  _ oh god. _ “Yeah! I bet. That sounds awesome.” Troy’s smile brightens, and he’s probably just being nice, but all it does is ramp up the butterflies in Nolan’s stomach. He doesn’t say anything else though, glancing at the clock like he has somewhere to be, which he probably does, and that makes Nolan panic and blurt without thinking, “Go out with me?”

“What?” Troy’s eyes immediately snap back to Nolan’s, and, they aren’t unkind, just, really surprised.

And if he wasn’t before, Nolan’s definitely blushing hard now. He can try and play it off, but his face is a dead giveaway that he knows exactly what he said. “Would you… did you want to…” licks his lips, and he’s pretty much lost all his nerve now, but he’s got to get it out. “Go out with me?”

Troy doesn’t say anything for a long moment, though his sunny disposition has cooled considerably. He bites his lip before finally responding. “Look, you seem really nice, but -” 

“I’m not as young as you probably think!” And god, he should just shut up, but he really, desperately wants to get to know him better. Troy just looks at him again, and this time he can’t really read his face. Tries to put his thoughts together fast, though even he doesn’t really know where he’s going with it. “I just… I thought that’s why you were turning me down and… I didn’t think it was a good reason.” He usually can flirt his way out of situations like this, but Troy’s gotten him tongue-tied. Unfortunately, he doesn’t say anything to  _ that _ either, so now he has to keep going. “I - I’m 20, not… you know. I just started college later. So like, it’s fine. And I want to.”

He doesn’t say anything for a long moment, and at this point, Nolan would rather he just walk out the door than have to listen to whatever long spiel he’s probably coming up with in his head. Finally, he takes a breath and speaks. “What’s your name?”

Nolan looks at him, confused for a second before he realizes. He never told him  _ his  _ name either. “Oh! N-Nolan. It’s Nolan.”

He studies him for a moment before nodding. “Okay, Nolan.” Slings his backpack back onto the desk in front of him and opens it, digging out a piece of paper. And - now that he’s writing his number on it, Nolan’s stuck standing there, not sure what to do next. Didn’t really think he’d get here, even with his fake confidence from earlier. Troy hands it over, and he thinks that’s it, but then. “I’m giving you this, but you’ve got to think about it. And - if when you turn 21, you’re still interested and even remember this, reach out. Okay?”

Nolan worries his lip as he listens and then abruptly nods when he’s done. “Yeah! Yeah, I can - yeah. I promise.” 

Troy looks at him one more time before getting his things together again and starting to walk away, and of course, he can’t not stare as he does. Turns back around just before he gets to the door and smiles at him, like he did when he first started talking to him. “Nice to meet you, Nolan.” 

He doesn’t, can’t say anything for a moment, caught up in how bright his smile is. Only does when he realizes he’s waiting for him to respond and quickly snaps out of it. “It was nice to meet you too, Troy. I’ll see you around?” Knows he’ll call him in a few months, but he still tests his reaction. 

He doesn’t quite get one before Troy walks out the door, but he’s not upset about it. For as nervous and distracted and disjointed he was about everything, he’s got a good feeling about this. 

**Author's Note:**

> find me on [tumblr.](https://spilborghs.tumblr.com)


End file.
